我跟老板杠上了，因为公司有项规定，要求我们这些按小时计费的员工，每天上班头15分钟白干。

If the world was not upside down, you would be paied from the second you go out from home to the second you get back. The avg time of your commute should be factored into your pay.

I used to work on a fixed salary. I was supposed to start work at 8:30 am. Due to shitty public transportation and not having a car, I used to go out early and be at work around 07:30- 07:45. I was the only one who arrived that early and my boss wanted me to start work as soon as I was there. That was an hour of free labor. I refused and ended up having breakfast at a nearby dinner every morning to waste that extra hour instead of working for free.

Employers and employees need to treat each other as humans.
If they show up 15 mins early or late due to traffic, gonna make them sit unpaid on the early days and dock them on the late days ?

And if the job really starts 8:45 not 9, then pay should start 8:45. But then a good employee would want to be on-time, and should arrive by 8:30 in case of traffic ! Where does it end ?

To me, if the job requires they be there by a certain time, tell them the time and expect them to be there. They should learn there commute patterns and make sure to leave a buffer. Nobody gets paid to commute, so leaving a buffer is part of the unpaid commute. But if showing up 1 min before the shift is unacceptable, then you must pay for the 15 mins and state an earlier start time.

Might not be a bad idea to follow up with your boss with an email for, "Per our discussion about the requirement to work 15 minutes unpaid to prep for a shift, I wanted to follow up on if there has been any response"

Document this. Also, notify the DoL, so they have the attempt documented. What you are doing here is making a paper trail so that if they terminate you, you have the documentation to show that it was retaliation. Because there is a high chance now that they're going to find a way to legally terminate you.

I would talk to a labor lawyer in your area. It's not sue time, but time to do some prep. Some should be willing to consult for free. Tell them that you have a reason to think that there is a possibility you could be under the scope at work and they may try to fire you in retaliation.

They'll tell you what you need to be documenting and watching out for so that IF they do fire you, you'll have what you need for a good case. It's no good trying to do this after the fact.

Good luck, sibling. I used to be a supervisor at a mental health crisis service. I used to think I was the guy who would advocate for our clients and clinicians and always have their side. We built a good little team that worked hard and helped people. Then the pandemic happened, upper management became more involved and had ideas that either do not work in the trenches or do not work in the courtroom because they are not strictly legal (or kind - mental health laws often include removing a person's right to refuse treatment, to compel them into the hospital, and we were using that a lot for like bureaucratic purposes). It did get to the point where I was being asked to lie to our clinicians about why we were doing certain things and not able to answer their questions about why we weren't doing the good, obviously necessary thing.

And they outlawed humor - my boss was cool and good to work with, my boss's boss is probably the reincarnation of Kubla Khan. I wasn't allowed to joke in interviews from the first time I joked in one. One time a kid pulled a magnetic key lock off the wall and I made a little plaque something like, "The Illusion of Secirity, 2019, $3,000," or something. Roundly hilarious said all, and witty, except boss's boss who outlawed humor or non-work sign posting for the entire workplace.

Personally, I think humor is important to the workplace. And reminding people that what we do is important and people's lives and freedoms are entrusted to us. As a supervisor it was part of my role to maintain morale, and I thought I did until I myself was so unhappy I couldn't maintain my own morale.

I guess all that just to say: good on you, current supervisor! Thanks for looking out for your guys! I'm glad your boss agreed with you, your guys should be paid, but even the best boss (including yourself) is still subject to the whims of an amoral corporation, and no one will be more loyal to you than to the almighty dollar. I got out, cut and ran, took a 9k loss and a job in a neighboring County as a regular, direct service crisis clinician - I don't advise it if what you're doing is working, but it's survivable and it was the right choice for me.

Good luck.